Princesses, Ice Creams and Toilets....Wait, what?

Selah took a deep breath and looked around her bar. She was caught up! It was a miracle. But the bigger miracle was how fast word had traveled about the new bar on the Black Hawk. The place was busy most nights now. And she'd managed to pick up a good deal of real ice cream on New Risa that was currently crowding her freezer, so people were starting to come in for that.

She heard the doors swish open and turned to greet the newcomer with a bright smile.

Adam smiled as both of the girls ran ahead through the doors into the bar called Talon's on the ship. He had been told - by someone in his department - that they had gotten real ice cream, and since the girls had just been moved onto the ship, Adam wanted to treat them this once. He smiled as he entered the bar, looking around. He led the girls to a table that was empty, and sat down, looking at a menu as he kept an eye on the girls, who couldn't stop giggling about something.

"Hi, welcome to Talons!" said Selah as she approached their table. "How are you today?"

"Young lady, what have I told you about doing that?" Adam asked. Maria looked at the table.

"Sorry Papa." She said. Adam smiled, and looked at the woman. "Not bad, a little tired. Just arrived today. I'm Adam Casey, ship's new Science Chief." He said, by way of introduction.

"I'm Selah Eireanne, the bar tender, obviously," said Selah, gesturing to the bar. "And don't worry, sweetie, I feel the same way about ice cream," she added to the smallest girl.

Maria grinned at the woman. "So I think it's ice cream all round today." Adam said, looking at the two girls, who had the biggest grins on their face.

"YAY!" Both of them exclaimed.

"All right!" replied Selah, sounding even more excited than the girls. "I have a lot of flavors," she added, handing them a PaDD with the full list. "My personal favorite is the Caramel Caribou, which, I know, is a very strange name, but trust me, it's amazing. It's caramel ice cream with caramel swirl and little chocolate covered caramels."

"Otay!" Maria said.

"Do you have anything with Strawberry?" Amy asked. Adam smiled.

"And I'll have Rocky Road if you have it." He said.

"What kind of place would this be if I didn't have Rocky Road?" said Selah with a grin. "Okay, so that's one caramel caribou, one strawberry supreme and one Rocky Road. Coming right up! Want anything to drink while I'm at it?"

"Milkshake?" Maria asked.

"Yes please, Milkshake." Amy agreed.

"Just a coffee for me. You're welcome to join us, if you're not too busy. I could use some adult conversation." He said.

"Ice cream and milkshakes?" teased Selah. "That's a bit of overkill, but hey, you only live once, right? Any particular flavor?" she asked the girls.

"Strawberry!" Amy said.

"She's obsessed with Strawberry's at the moment." Adam said, by way of explanation.

"Banana please." Maria said.

"You got it!" said Selah. "I'll be back in a jiffy!" Sure enough, only five minutes later, Selah was back, setting the orders in front of the correct people. "Okay, three ice creams, two milkshakes two coffees and... a partridge in a pear tree," she said, taking the empty seat and one of the coffees.

"A what?" Amy asked.

"It's part of a Christmas song." Adam said, as the girls accepted their drinks and ice creams. They immediately began to drink the milkshakes as Adam took a sip of his coffee. "I think they like the milkshakes." Adam commented.

"Oh, good," said Selah, pretending to be relieved. "That means I made them right."

"If you hadn't, you'd hear about it." Adam said, as the girls finished their shakes and moved onto the ice creams. "Eat nicely, you two." Adam said. As the girls put ice cream laden spoons in their mouths, Adam smiled. "I haven't had ice cream in a while." He said. "Usually we have whatever I make. I always tend to cook, even if I have to replicate the ingredients. Replicating prepared meals always...well, they don't taste right. Fresh, real food is even better though."

"Absolutely," agreed Selah. "I prefer real food whenever I can get it. I'm not much of a cook, though. I guess I just never had the time to learn."

"I always say if something's important, you need to make the time. Cooking may not seem like an important skill, but I had to learn from a young age. I aced survival training at the academy because of my skills." Adam said.

"True," said Selah. "I'm not sure why I never bothered. Most of the royal family learns it, so why not me? Oh, well, I suppose there's still time, isn't there?"

"The Royal family?" Adam asked, a little confused.

"Yeah, my cousin's the queen," she said. "Oh, right, that's not common knowledge off Yegorah. Sorry, I keep forgetting. Yeah, I'm ninth in line for the throne, so at least I'm not in any immediate danger of becoming queen. Ugh! That would be dreadful, wouldn't it?"

"I honestly wouldn't know. Never been in that situation myself." Adam replied. "Why a bartender then? Obviously you didn't want to perform any regal duties."

"Does that mean you have a crown?" Amy asked.

"Or a Tiara, like a princess? Can we see it?" Maria added. Adam groaned softly, shaking his head.

"I actually DO have a tiara," answered Selah. "But, it's just for official functions. They made me bring it with me just in case, but I don't think I'll need it. I can't imagine there's any reason a Starfleet Captain can't handle something a princess normally does."

"I'd love to be a princess." Amy said, smiling. "I can dance, and twirl and sing and wear beautiful dresses."

"Can we have Tiara's Papa? You call us your princesses." Maria said. Adam smirked, and looked at Selah.

"There, you see what you've done, now I need to make them their own tiara's." Adam joked.

"Don't worry, I got this," said Selah. "Now, girls, being a princess is very hard work. On top of school and homework, you have to attend boring ceremonies and do a lot of volunteer work. And you don't get any free time because even though you're a princess, you still have chores to do. And then there are endless interviews. Nothing you say or do is private. If you drip a bit of mustard on your shirt, someone takes a picture and then it's in every magazine and on every news program there is. It's not all dresses and dancing. There's a lot of scrubbing toilets at the homeless shelter or cleaning out the kennels at the animal rescue, too."

"Ewww. Scrubbing toilets?" Amy asked. "Daddy can do that while I dance and wear pretty dresses."

"Oh, will I now?" Adam asked, raising an eyebrow. Both girls giggled and went back to eating their ice cream. He chuckled and took a bite of his ice cream. "There are very few pleasures in this universe that are as simple as ice cream. Do you have kids, Selah?" He asked.

"Sorry, girls, scrubbing toilets is a princess's job," Selah told them. "No, I don't have any kids," she answered Adam. "I love kids, but I never got around to having any. The trouble is finding someone with whom to have kids in the first place."

"Yeah, that does tend to be the hardest part. Finding someone you want to be with, someone to love, and someone who loves you. Creating a family though is the best thing I've ever done." Adam said.

"I can imagine," said Selah with a half wistful smile. "I guess it doesn't help that I've never been fussed about having kids. I mean, yeah, I'd like some, but if I don't ever have them, well, I'd be okay with that."

"I can understand that viewpoint, having known many who held the same. But I can promise you one thing; if you have kids, as soon as you hold them, and see them, one thing will be different; so much so that you'll forget all your previous views and wonder how you ever got by without them." Adam said.

"Is that so?" asked Selah. "And what exactly would it be that makes the difference?"

Adam smiled. "They'll be yours." He said simply.

Selah's smile softened to mush. "Aw!" she said. "That is so sweet! Did you hear that girls? You're the best because you're his! That's incredible!"

"We know." Both girls said at the same time, in an innocent tone that said that they were shy, but with grins that showed they weren't shy. "And he's ours." Amy added.

"That I am." He agreed, kissing Amy's forehead, and then Maria's forehead. It helped that they were sitting either side of him.

It was sweet, watching him interact with his kids, but Selah had noticed that her bar was starting to fill up and her waiters were about to be overtaxed. "Well, it looks as if I should be getting back to work," she said, downing the last of her coffee and standing. "If you need anything else, just give me a yell, okay?"

Selah grinned and winked at them. Unlike some royals, she really didn't mind the title, so long as nobody treated her as differently. "You're welcome girls," she said, and was off to tend the bar.

Adam smiled as she went, and looked at the girls. "Alright, finish your ice creams." He said. It was shaping up to be the most interesting day Adam had experienced in a long time, and in truth, he was glad about it. If not a little worried. But then, all things were possible, if one just looked hard enough.